How much to save, how much to spend.....?

First off I am a bit confused since you start the discussion with "As a teen" but your profile says you are 23. Anyway it is very hard to really say how much you should be saving for college since it depends on where you want to go to college, a state school near your home or some out of state one or whatever. College can be very expensive but you seem to be saving pretty well for the amount of income you have. It all depends on if you are living at home and have few housing expenses or if you are on your own. If you are living at home then you might want to consider trying to save more. The other side of saving is what are you doing with what you are saving. If you are just putting it in the bank, then it is not going to grow much with the current interest rates. You should be investing it in something with a higher yield but that is relatively safe over the long term until you need the money for college. There are some stocks that have a yield of around 5% that are fairly safe; to go much higher means more risk. You might consider one of those and then get into the dividend reinvestment plan(at some online broker that has no fee for such a plan) so that you will automatically be saving more. When it comes time to use some of the money for college, just remember when you sell some of the stock you have to take the capitol gains taxes into consideration.

it sounds like you are already on the right track. most people don't even break down their finances or talk about saving (whether or not they can). you are taking charge of your finances, so you're going in the right direction. only you know what you can and can't afford to do, based upon what money you have. anything you save between now and when you get to college i something. keep on saving, even when you get to college and beyond. this is a really great skill that you are using.

Okay, so I am doing the the math, and you make about $260 each month. Now, saving $50 a month for college is good, but I hate to say this, it will not pay for much. Do you know how much college cost these days? I do because I just finished my undergraduate, and I am now working on my graduate degree. For four years, I have paid about $30,000 to $40,000 for the four years that I have been in college. I have had several jobs, and I still had to get on financial aid and take out student loans. No matter how much you save, it will not be enough because the cost of college is going up all of the time, unless, you plan on going to a two-year college, then that is a different story. In that case, you will probably save enough for your first year of community college, and maybe half or all of your second year. College is not cheap these days. Many people end up having to get on financial aid and take out student loans to pay for college unless you come from a very well off family. On average, for a four-year university you will be looking at $30,000 to $80,000 a year depending on what school you go to. You can also get scholarships, in fact, I highly recommend doing that. I got one scholarship that paid for my first semester of college, and that helped out a lot. Right now, if you are saving $50 a month, and you times that by 12 months, then you are looking at saving $600 a year. Maybe if you put it in a savings fund that collects money in time, then you might have more, but even then, I am not so sure about that.

I say that the amount that you are saving right now is good enough. Especially if that is all you can save at the moment. You don't want to save all your money, because you don't have any money to play around with. You are doing the right thing and are on the right track. Don't give up on what you are doing and you will do good in saving up money for college.

I can't really give advise for this matter but then the only thing you can do is to track down all the important things that you want to spend and save. Track your target expense then how much you are going to save by the target that you want. This year I would be maybe enroll or attend the financial study in order for me to learn on how to invest.

Well if you can save half of your allowance go for it.. and if you are really determined to save you can do it. Just don't spent to much on things that you don't need and you won't need.. thats how you can save.,

good day unconscious, with regard to your topic, well, it is quite difficult to determine how much to save and how much to spend. i think, it depends on you how you will handle this thing. others do their saving by keeping some of the change they got from their purchases. others, just keep a small amount out from their monthly salary. so as not to feel the hardship in saving a big amount. though to some, they initial exclude a big amount and deposit it to their bank account. and will just spend what they got in their hands. in the matter of saving and spending, it is only you who can determine that matter.

Wow, that's great Unconscious. I am so awed by people who, at an early age, are able to save up for the future. I think your $50 saving per week is good enough.

Try to spend money wisely.While you don't need to push,buy things mostly you needed,if you push too hard and definitely feel hard to live.Be happy but you can achieve more things if you have money supported.Make a budget wisely and hopefully this will help.

They say one should 10% of your income for yourself and 10% for your church. However, if one can save more than that, it is better. :-) Have a nice day!

you can have the 80/20 rule. meaning before spending anything you take 20% and put it on your savings, then live your life with the rest. if you can save more on that 80% ,the better then you can add it to your savings. mostly mathematics for most of us goes this way [INCOME-EXPENSES = SAVINGS].... but you can do it this way [INCOME-SAVINGS = EXPENSES]. if you do not have extra money to buy something like a new lap top for example, never take from your savings, you must open another saving for it from the 80%. the 20% is for your future, use some kind of pension or whatever you may call it. it is nice to grow old with extra money.

Haha,my myLot friend...I wanna comment more,but I really don't know what more advice can I give you... In my opinion, it spends on your personal situation...you can try your best to reduce those unnecessary expenses and then you can save more for the unexpected events arisen. Thanks a lot~

Do you live in your own apartment or with your parents first of all if you live in your own apartments i would say pay off al bills. And coupons shop when it comes to groceries or fastfood places there are websites such as couponnetwork and others which have printable coupons. If you have a cell phone call your company and see if there is a way to get lower rate or something. i would say pay bills save half of what is left for college and the rest coupon food start and fast food eat. on the wants and needs issue. Ask your self do I really need this dress or shoes or whatever else your gonna buy is it gonna collect dust in my closet or am i gonna actually wear it. If you are not goona use it then dont buy it.